Chapter 30 - Hayden
HAYDEN
There was something peaceful about lying in bed alone, staring at the ceiling, long after everyone else was asleep. It was like the whole world became yours. Everything else just melted away, if you were willing to let it.
“Are you sure you’re ready to go back there tomorrow?”
Of course, lying in bed next to a sexy, naked bartender was good too. Especially one that had just fucked you through some of the best orgasms of your life.
“Yes,” I eventually sighed, snuggling into the crook of Carter’s great arm. “I can’t avoid the place forever. Besides, Cole’s been quiet.”
“Still… if you need more time.”
I planted kisses against the side of his chest, hooking my bare leg over his body to pull him in even closer. His muscles flexed, warm and thick, beneath my lips.
“Are you trying to keep me around?” I teased.
Cole’s free arm slid downward, his palm so big it cupped both globes of my ass at once. He squeezed it so hard I yelped.
“Fuck yes,” he grunted. “We love having you here.”
We. My God, it was such a fucking turn on. Even now, more than a week into my stay with the boys, the word still made me queasy with arousal.
“I really have to get things in order,” I told him. “Prep the place for whoever sublets it.”
“Uh huh,” he murmured, still distracted by playing with my ass. “And you’re giving them the furniture?”
“Every last bit of it,” I sniffed, wrinkling my nose. “They can have it, they can enjoy it, or they can chuck it out the nearest window for all I care. Doesn’t matter to me what happens, as long as I never see it again.”
The apartment was strangely easy to let go of, once I’d made the decision not to go back. I missed some of my furnishings though, whatever Cole had done with them. A few pieces had followed me through several moves already.
“And the three of you promise to take me apartment hunting?” I asked.
“Sure. Didn’t we say we would?”
“Yes,” I sighed contentedly. “Just making sure.”
“Don’t blame us if we’re not in any hurry though,” Carter warned. “As a roommate, you come with some pretty good benefits.”
Smiling, I traced his chest with a roaming fingernail. “You’re talking about my cooking, aren’t you?” I teased.
His hand rose up and came down on my ass, smacking it playfully.
“Yeah, sure,” he chuckled. “Your ‘cooking.’”
If I was tired, it was only in body. My spirit itself was soaring.
I loved being here, being included, being a part of the guys’ daily lives.
I was bonding hard with Bodie, and finally starting to figure Sawyer out.
Even Carter was opening up to me, on occasion, when he wasn’t too busy looking out for my own life.
With a little reluctance, he even told a few of the things that were going on with the bar.
Specifically, how The Refuge’s clientèle had dwindled over the years and decades, the further removed it became from the founders who’d built the place.
Speaking of which…
“Hey…” I murmured, planting another soft kiss against his smooth, warm skin. “What if I told you I had an idea for you?”
The hand playing with my ass stopped for a moment. He seemed genuinely intrigued.
“What sort of idea?”
“The kind of idea that might bring a whole bunch of new customers into your bar.”
Carter paused for a moment. He sat up a little.
“For real?”
“Yes, silly,” I chuckled. “Of course for real.”
“How would you do it?”
I settled deeper into the crook of his arm and let out another long sigh.
“You’re just gonna have to trust me,” I told him.
“Trust you.”
“Yes.”
He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs. It made his chest expand, the muscles flexing beneath my cheek.
“Okay, fine,” he grunted. “I trust you.”
I craned my neck to look up at him. “Do you?”
Carter paused, considered me for a moment, then shrugged. “Yes. Actually, I do.”
“Alright, then,” I said excitedly. “I’ll take care of the general announcement, the forum posts, maybe an Instagram ad or two…” My eyes lit up. “Oh! And some other quick marketing. A couple dozen fliers…”
“Fliers?”
“Yes,” I grinned. “I’ll do all that, though. You plan for everything else.”
Still incredulous, Carter swore under his breath. “How the hell can I plan for something when I don’t even know what it is?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in later,” I winked. “I’ll talk to Sawyer and Bodie ahead of time, too. Clear some room at The Refuge, though. Maybe move all the tables off to one side.”
His eyesbrows scrunched together. “Move the tables?”
“Yes, definitely.”
He looked suddenly worried. “Wait! You’re not planning on creating a dance floor or anything like tha—”
“Carter?” I cut him off.
“Yes?”
“You said you trusted me, right?”
He was much slower to answer this time. Eventually though, he nodded.
“Good, that’s all I need to hear.”
He yawned, and the way his body moved beneath me was so sexy I could barely stand it. I wanted to kiss him until he couldn’t take it anymore, then climb on top and finish him off again. But he was tired. The past few nights, he’d been up late.
Instead, I bounced from the bed and began looking for my clothes. Not that I’d come in here with very many clothes to begin with.
“We’ll talk more in the morning,” I said sweetly, kissing him one last time. “You sleep.”
“Sleep…” he murmured drowsily.
I slipped from his bedroom and into the hallway, leaving the sex-infused air behind. I still had sex on the brain though. And with a million and one things to plan, sex on the brain could really get in the way.
I looked left, and then right. I supposed I could slip into Sawyer’s room; and wake him up with my mouth.
He’d let me ride him until I was finished, like he did last time.
Or I could climb into Bodie’s bed and push my panties into his mouth, while whispering dirty things into his ear. That worked last time, too.
I paused, realizing I was hornier than I thought. Greedier than I thought.
And a greedy girl would wake them up and do both.